


Worry

by traumtraeger



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, crow cant handle feelings, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 21:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12873708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traumtraeger/pseuds/traumtraeger
Summary: Badger and Crow talk things out.





	Worry

**Author's Note:**

> to summarise: crow cannot deal with his crush on luke. badger is a good friend

“So whatya want to talk about?”  
Dusting off an empty crate, Badger sits down across from Crow, who sighs and flops onto a box covered in tarp. He’s been pacing all morning, mind running a thousand thoughts a minute but inevitably reeling around to the same thing, the same problem that’s been staring him in the face for once now.  
“I dunno, Badge. I just.” He heaves a sigh and rubs his face in his hands. “It’s Triton.”  
His friend lets out a low whistle, and his nervous smile becomes a teasing grin. “Does somebody still have a crush?”  
“As a matter of fact, yeah, I do, so shut it.” Crow snaps, then retreats into himself as Badger starts. “Sorry, mate. I’m all sorts of high-strung today.”  
“S’alright. Don’t worry about it.” After a moment of silence as Crow fidgets with the end of his scarf, twirling the frayed ends between his fingers and bundling the soft fabric in his hands, Badger speaks up again. “So what’s up?”  
Crow sticks his hands in his pockets, lowering his head. “It’s becoming harder and harder to be his friend. Just his friend, y’know? I see him smile and I wanna hold his hand and make him laugh and tell him how much it means to me that he’s there, but...” The affectionate smile he’s let build on his face drops. “I can’t, Badge. I can’t.”  
He’s already said too much, far too much, but he can’t back out now. He can’t let Badger know he’s vulnerable - besides, poor guy has enough on his plate without him yammering on at him about his stupid feelings. Yet here he is, about to spill his guts like a huge idiot. Like a weak, pathetic -  
He’s interrupted by Badger’s hand on his shoulder, and he takes in a long breath that shakes on its way out.  
“Why can’t you ask him out?” Crow responds with a scathing look - _why the hell do you think?_ \- to which Badger replies, “I mean, as in why do you feel like that? What are you feeling at the moment?”  
Crow’s thoughts freeze. He can’t say he’s thought of that before. He’s usually stuffed his emotions under the rug, hiding them from everyone else, not least himself - with the life he leads, he can’t afford to let himself hurt half the time. Mouth suddenly dry, he searches for words that fit, combing through his vocabulary, but nothing seems to fit.  
“Nervous, I suppose.”  
“And?”  
“And - and scared, and sad, and -“ - this sends a little shock through him - “and angry.”  
“Angry? Why, and at who?”  
“At... myself, I think. I’ve felt this for so long, and I’ve done sod-all about it. It’s stupid, really.”  
Badger gives Crow’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, then lets go, shifting back a bit to give him some space. He has no idea how his friend can detect when he doesn’t want contact, but he appreciates it to no end. “S’not stupid at all. You’re allowed to be nervous, and afraid.” He runs a hand through his straggly mop of hair. “Speaking of which, what are you scared of?”  
“I’m scared Luke’s gonna say no,” Crow murmurs, worrying at a bitten nail, pulling at the dead skin at the cuticle. “I’m scared that after all we’ve done together, after everything our friendship’s been through, it’s gonna come to an end, and we’ll never speak again. I dunno how I’d cope with that - like yeah, I have you and the other Ravens, but Luke? He’s something else. He’s someone I never knew I needed, but ever since we’ve met I’ve been so happy and full of hope, and...and I don’t want to lose that.” He blinks back the miserable tears that threaten to cloud his eyes and continues picking at his fingertip. “Besides, what if he hates me afterwards? What if his parents raised him to think that this would be evil, that I’m a bloody abomination, that I’m a freak of nature and shouldn’t exist? What if he told his dad? What if he had a go at me? What if he snitched on the market and then I’d have nowhere to go and nothing to do and I’d die stupid and alone and it’d be my fucking fault because I couldn’t keep my bloody sodding mouth -“  
“Crow, you’re bleeding.”  
Badger grabs his hand, checking the damage, and he notices that he’s picked half his cuticle right off, blood beading at the base of his nail. In the quiet that follows as he blots the injury on his sleeve, cursing quietly, he realises how loud his voice had risen, and heavy shame slinks into his chest.  
After a moment where both of them sit in uneasy silence, Badger shifts a little on the crate, looking him in the eyes as best he can, considering his hair.  
“Look, Crow, mate. That’s not gonna happen. Just ‘cause your brain maps out the worst cause of action, doesn’t mean that that’s how it’s gonna happen in real life. I know you know that, but it pays to remember and remind yerself that sometimes, yeah?”  
Crow nods, pulling his hat down over his eyes.  
“And anyway, you don’t have anything to worry about. Ask any of the other Ravens - Triton loves you to bits, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you asking him out. If all else fails, you can always play it off as it being friend-like; he’ll be chuffed either way. He might have a sense of right and wrong, but from what I can tell, he’s nothing like his dad - he wouldn’t hurt a fly, and judging someone ‘cause they like other guys is hardly something I’d expect of him.”  
With a horrified sting, Crow realises he’s crying, and moves quickly to wipe the tears out of his eyes. “Sorry - sorry.”  
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. You’re allowed to cry, it’s okay. Hug?”  
He usually hates physical contact - it’s overwhelming, and it makes his head hurt - but he needs it now.  
Considering how much of a twig Badger is, he gives really good hugs. His arms fold reassuringly around Crow and hold him as he cries, tears soaking into the threadbare knit of his jumper (which Crow finds himself stressing out about - it’s just another burden for his friend to deal with - until Badge shushes him, patting his back).  
“It’s sort of funny, isn’t it?” he muses as he breaks the hug, dusting himself off and adjusting his cap. “Crow, the fearless leader of the Black Ravens, going all gooey eyed over some rich kid.”  
“I suppose,” Badger smiles, standing and pacing to the far end of the room. “Everyone falls in love, though, in one way or another.”  
A cheeky smile flashes across Crow’s face, and he catches up with his friend. “Hey, that reminds me. You going anywhere with Socket yet?”  
Badger flushes and elbows him in the ribs. “No, shut up!”  
Crow laughs and opens the door to the auction house, his grin spreading. “Can’t say I’m surprised - you could get a neon sign out and he still wouldn’t take the hint. Want me to give him some pointers?”  
“Oh my god, stop it!”


End file.
